Grampus
TUGS= Grampus *'Number': 8 *'Affiliation': Star Fleet (formerly navy) *'Nationality': British Grampus is a midget submarine, who was once owned by the navy. He is a grandfatherly figure and a close friend of the Star Fleet, and has helped them out on various situations. Bio Grampus appears for the first time in the episode Pirate, in which he helped to prove Ten Cents' innocence. Then in the episode Regatta, he saved Lillie Lightship from sinking by plugging the hole in her side with his front. Later, he was nearly blown up by Bluenose the naval tug having been branded as 'too old' for further service and was out of comission. He was thankfully swiftly rescued by the Ten Cents, Big Mac, O.J. and Top Hat. On the same day, he was bought by Captain Star and joined the Star Fleet as their first Star submarine. He speaks with a Central English accent (with a noticeable lisp). In the 1989 Annual story The Race, he helps Big Mac win a race against Zorran, who sabotages the race. Grampus also has a tendency to spit water in the tug's faces, most prominently at Bluenose in the episode Regatta and at Top Hat while he was asleep in the episode Ghosts. Grampus docks near the famous Bridge Café, but due to the noise provided by the band, he often moves around the harbour; this is best shown in 'Pirate'. Nothing is said that when Grampus was bought by Captain Star to prevent his demise, that he moved to the Star Dock to rest. Grampus's whistle is really Sunshine's in a higher pitch. Livery Grampus is painted grey with his name painted on in white. Behind the Scenes Grampus is based on a Plunger class submarine and is named after the USS Grampus (SS-4) which was one of those submarines. This submarine was sunk as a target in January 1922. A Grampus, also known as Risso's Dolphin, is also a type of blunt-nosed dolphin. Spike Knight built Grampus based on old photos of a "Grampus" class submarine. The Grampus model used the same trolley mechanism utilised for moving the tugs, except his was able to lift up and down to surface. Appearances Voice Actors * Lee Cornes (TUGS) * French Tickner (Salty's Lighthouse) * Sakurako Kishiro (Japan) * Pauli Virta (Finland) Trivia * His face masks were sold to The Star Tugs Company (formerly The Star Tugs Trust). The current whereabouts of his model are unknown, making him and Top Hat the only two models of the Star Fleet that haven't been found or sold. * Grampus has a special mechanism that makes his squirt water from his mouth whenever he surfaces. Gallery File:Grampus - TUGS Photobooks Picture.JPG|Photo book profile picture File:Pirate89.png File:Pirate93.png File:Regatta87.png File:Regatta103.png File:Quarantine2.JPG|Grampus spits out water File:BigMac&Grampus.JPG File:GrampusinGhosts.JPG File:Grampus_In_Munitions.png|"Well I've been used for some pretty strange jobs before" File:BluenoseandGrampus.JPG|"But never have I brought in a switcher, and then taken away a twitcher!" File:GrampusinGhosts2.JPG|Grampus wakes up Top Hat File:Grampus3.JPG File:HerculesZorranGrampus.png File:GrampusStarSubmarine.jpg|Grampus with Star flags File:HappyGrampus.jpg File:HeatWave9.jpg|Grampus (bottom right) as seen in Heat Wave File:Grampus'Prototype.jpg|Grampus' possible basis File:Grampus'sfacemasks.jpg|Grampus' face masks File:GrampusPicture.jpg|Grampus' full model as seen on the Japanese colouring book File:Grampus'Model.png|Grampus' model during the early stages of production Category:Star Fleet Category:Navy Category:Characters Category:Merchandised Characters Category:Protagonists Category:Submarines Category:Other Boats